Storming the Citadel Game 4

We played the 4th game in our Storming the Citadel campaign 10 days ago at the Abyss. This was the first game where the Germans were not given an automatic advance in the campaign. I continued to use my Platoon 1, Graham does not get a new platoon until Table 6 but he has managed his forces in an excellent fashion.

Forces

Germans (FM 9)

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon (no. 1)

Supports 10

251 w/2crew and LMG

PzII

Adjutant 

PGB

Soviets (FM 10)

1942 Soviet Rifle Platoon (no.1)

Supports 5

Flamethrower team

MMG Team

Game

Patrol Phase

JOPs

Rapid Deployment of 2 German Squads

Oh Dear a PzII

and a 251 with the 3rd squad almost to the objective

Soviet counter attack

PzII deploys some smoke to protect the advance

This was actually a closer game than it looked above. The Germans were able to get their 251 to the objective but the crew got badly mauled from Soviet MMG fire. I was able to start the Final Countdown and it seemed that the Soviets would not be able to get a unit to back on the objective to recapture it and when there FM hit 5 they decided to withdraw. 

Graham subsequently decided to abandon Table 5 to the Germans and move to table 6 where the last battle will be fought. I was initially surprised but when I thought about it his force overall morale is quite good and he gets his one replacement fresh platoon on that table. It looks like the Soviets will have to hold off the Germans at least 3 times on table 6 to hold off a major German victory. The Soviets are able to build up their fixed defences over these games which will make it increasing difficult to take the objective.

Summing Up

Another German victory but this game was quite close with the Final Countdown at 2 when the Soviets withdrew. 

 

Storming the Citadel Game 3.

Delayed report for our third game in the storming the Citadel CoC campaign. 

Forces

Germans (FM 10)

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon (no. 1)

Supports 10

Pregame Barrage (free)

SL

251/1

251/9

Soviets (FM 9)

1942 Soviet Rifle Platoon (no.1)

Supports 5

2 minefields (free)

3 entrenchments

Flamethrower Team

Game

This was a very short game as you can see from the photos below.

Looking from the German right flank, 2 Soviets JOP's close together!

this an end of the game shot

the germans were able to get their troop carrier on the the table and with assault deployment were able to shut down 2 jops before the soviets could deploy.

providing covering fire

ditto

Summing Up

This was somewhat of a disappointing game but it is what it is. The Soviets withdrew, no attrition on either side.

Belaya Smert

I finally have finished the layout and editing on my Chain of Command campaign for the Winter War between the Soviets and the Finns in late 1939 to early 1940. 

I have placed it on Wargames Vault for free, this allows me to update it easily. I am already finding some minor typographical errors and I would like to add more period photos gong forward. Here is the link to download the campaign. 

Comments and game reports are always appreciated.

 

Storming the Citadel-Game 2

A couple of days ago, myself and Graham got in a second game in our Storming the Citadel campaign. I had already played this scenario with William as documented in the previous blog post. I had won but it was a close run thing.

This time we played on Graham's table as you can see below.

Forces

Germans (FM 9, Supports 3)

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon (less 7 men)

Adjutant

Pregame Barrage

2 Engineer Teams

Soviets (FM 9, Supports 2) (less 6 men)

1942 Soviet Rifle Platoon

8 minefields

2 entrenchments

Game

Patrol Markers and JOPs

The only photo I took of the game, as you see Graham placed the 8 minefields Straight across the table, but more importantly they were at least a foot from my closest JOPs. I placed a PG squad in cover next to the forward JOPs. I was hoping my PGB would allow me to get forward quickly to the minefields. It did not work out that way. Graham entrenched one section on his right flank. Although this was a long range he was able to weaken both my squads. I placed a 3rd squad on the left with the SL and advanced my squad on the right.. In response, he placed his entrenched 2nd section in the clump of foliage close to the minefields. A battle of attrition ensued. This went back and forth and I was able to drop his FM to 6 but by now I was suffering attrition as well. I still had not placed my engineer teams. I checked the loses on both sides and I could see I had lost fewer men than the Soviets, so decided to withdraw. Like Scenario 1 in this campaign, this table is only played once. Best to reserve my troops for the next 2 battles, where I have to actually win the table to advance. 

Summing Up

Well that will be it for a while as Graham is going away at the end of March for a couple of weeks and this sojourn in Montreal has come to an end. 

Crossing the Minefields

 

William and myself got together for a quick CoC game a couple of days ago. He wanted to play theSoviets again but this time we set up a 1942-43 game using one of the scenarios from the Storming the Citadel campaign. Incidentally, this was the next game in my campaign with Graham. 

The Germans have to clear 4 minefields of the 8 placed on the table by the Soviets (2 of which are dummies). They get 2 free engineer teams and the Soviets get 6 free minefields.

Forces

Germans (FM 11, Supports 1)

1942 Panzergrenadier Platoon

Adjutant

2 Engineer Teams

Soviets (FM 9, Supports 2)

1942 Soviet Rifle Platoon

8 minefields

2 entrenchments

Patrol Markers and JOPs

Half way through the game, with the entrenched Soviets giving the Germans hell. William did put down a 2nd entrenchment next to the first while I put my last platoon behind the engineer team. There was a lot of shooting back and forth but ultimately once weakened, I initiate Handgranaten to charge.

It was an interesting game, I am not sure it is possible to clear 4 minefields in this game, I did identify 2 dummies and cleared one before the Soviet FM dropped to zero. Although, I ultimately won the assault on the entrenched Soviets it is pretty tough even with the Soviets being pinned. It took 2 rounds and it was only on the second that I broke through. 

On to the Eastern Front

 

I have been wanting for sometime to play some Eastern Front games. There is no question that most of the TFL campaigns for CoC are for the Western Front with a significant focus on Normandy. All good....but playing the Soviets is always a challenge especially because of the significant changes in platoon organisation throughout the 2nd World War. Most of my gaming on the Eastern Front has been during the Winter War with large 14-15 man platoons with no team structure. Version 2 of Chain of Command which covers 1944-45 has significant changes with smaller sections and now broken in 2 teams. My previous post details some work on Russian buildings so I was excited to put them on the table. I offered to put on game with my William so we met at the l'abyss this past Saturday.

Scenario 3: Attack and Defend. Patrol Markers and JOPs. Soviet Attackers from the left and German Defenders from the right. The Objectives were the Oil Tanks and the Ruined Building.

Soviets (FM 9, Support 12)

V2 Rifle Platoon

Captured Panzerfausts

Pregame Bombardment

Entrenchment

Mortar Bombardment with Extra Phase

Maxim MMG

Germans (FM 10, Support 7)

V2 Grenadier Platoon

MG42 MMG

Ig18 IG

Adjutant

It was a good game, I did not take any photos until the end. The game was quite close with the Soviets capturing the Oil Tanks within a few phases. William was also able to land the Bombardment quite accurately which covered my MMG, IG as well as one Grenadier squad and the Rifle team in a 2nd squad. It looked like I was doomed but I was going into the end game with a good advantage in FM as the Soviets were a bit unlucky in their FM throws. I was able to Handgranaten the Soviets who had captured the Oil Tanks while throwing 3 grenades (I had 5 commands), this was enough to break the section but also rout several leaders. I was a bit lucky with my dice, it was an excellent tactical game with William aggressively attacking. 

My next CoC game will feature the start of a Eastern Front campaign with Graham, stay tuned.

M3 Grant- A Bit of an Orphan Tank

 

I recently resin printed a M3 Grant AFV, I got the STL from a Canadian Vehicles kickstarter. I have to say that these were the best vehicle STLs I have received with supported and unsupported versions but also a hollowed version. I find hollowing vehicles a little challenging, so I was quite happy that this was already done.

Most of the vehicles in the kickstarter were trucks and it was an interesting collection but after some research not really a collection that was useful for wargaming. This was especially relevant to the M3 Grant which was primarily used for training purposes by Commonwealth armies except in North Africa where both the British and Australian armies used it for operational purposes.

I have to admit that I had not done this research before I painted the tank. So I will have to make it a training vehicle for the 2nd Canadian Armoured Division. 

But who knows it may end up being transferred to the Soviet Union where the M3 Grant did have operational history with a new livery.

V for Victory

A week ago, I had one of my regular games with my friend PY. We usually play at his house, so he generally will suggest a game to me. This time he suggested V for Victory a new game from Studio Tomahawk set in WWII. Click on the link and you find a QRS and a FAQ which will give a sense of the game.

I have been a little dubious of this game as most of Studio Tomahawks games are semi-historical or alternate historical in nature. I also would not call them simulations but rather games. As anyone who reads my blog knows, my main WWII game is Chain of Command. This is very, very unlikely to change. But I do enjoy Studio Tomahawk games and after rulesets from Too Fat Ladies there is no question that I really favour games from Studio Tomahawk, such as SAGA, Muskets & Tomahawks, Dracula's America and Congo. All great games, so I was quite willing to try V for Victory.

A lovely table as usual by PY.

I am not a big fan of markers, but these worked well.

I played a British Airborne unit and PY played the Germans

As you can see, it is a pretty small scale game with maybe 20 figures per side. we did not play with heavy weapons teams or AFV's. But I would think that the game scales up well.

Each unit has different attributes and the quality of the weapons defines the type of dice used. Negative attributes burn dice meaning that they drop down a level (d8 to d6) or that you lose a dice.

The activation method is very similar to Congo (almost exact I would say) with each player having a hand of cards with a certain number and type of actions on each card. Each card is also numbered which defines priority in play. Once each player exhausts their hand, the turn ends. I like this activation method. I should say that Dracula's America has somewhat of a similar method. Muskets and Tomahawks also uses cards but in a different way with each card activating specific unit type, either yours or your opponents.

I did eke out a victory which is unusual as PY usually beats me!

I have to say I quite enjoyed the game and would play it again. I am not planning to paint up any troops for it and have no plans to buy the ruleset except for maybe the book itself. It comes with a deck of cards as well as markers which are all well thought out. If someone sets it up at the club we have a full US Airborne platoon as well as a German Grenadier platoon which will work well for the game.

28 mm Tanks

An early project for our Historical Wargaming Club in Montreal was to paint up 2 platoons of 28 mm figures, this was group effort and was relatively successful. Recently one of our members started playing a new ruleset from Warlord Games, Achtung Panzer. As a contribution to this effort, I decided to print some tanks with my resin printer. I play WWII in 20mm rather than 28mm, so this was a novel project for me. I had a look around but I then realised that I already had some STL's that I could use from the Hürtgen Forest kickstarter. The first 2 tanks I printed, a PzIV and a Hetzer went well. I printed the pre-supported versions and they came out of the printer without problem. I had a lot more problems with the M10 Tank Destroyer, for some reason the pre-supported versions were unsuccessful, so I had to add the supports myself. They looked good but when I was painting them I realised that on one side the wheels on the tracks were malformed. It was not that noticeable so I finished the paint job.

I forgot to take photos until after I had placed them in the cabinet, so the images are somewhat limited. The paint jobs are quite simple, I added some stowage. It was a bit of a challenge to find decals but I did apply some. Overall they are certainly serviceable for gaming. I may try to add more at a later time but on to different projects now.

Achtung Panzer

On our club's last games night, I tried a new tank game called Achtung Panzer. This was put on by William, one of our club's members. I am not a big fan of Bolt Action but I thought it would be fun to print up a couple of tanks in 28mm. I have several German and US AFV STL's from the Hürtgen Forest kickstarter. I have had a couple of games of TFL's What a Tanker, I actually thought it was a bit foolish. So I was not too sure about another tank only game.

But, I will always give something a try, so I showed up with a newly minted Hetzer as well as aPzIV. William was quite well prepared for the game and had gone over the rules carefully. Gabriel showed up with a Churchill, one of my favourite British tanks. William supplied him with a Soviet tank as well as two recon vehicles for each side.

Well, I can say I had a lot of fun, the game rules were a little complicated but they seemed to do a good job of simulated tank warfare. 

I had to leave a little early but fortunately the game was almost over and the Germans secured a victory over the Allies. I had a lot of fun, thanks to William for setting up the game. I certainly will play again and am presently printing up a M10A1.